


The Three of them... Continued

by fyrefairee



Series: The Dreamer [3]
Category: Veronica Mars - All Media Types
Genre: F/F, F/M, Multi
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-04-10
Updated: 2017-05-13
Packaged: 2018-10-17 06:30:28
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 5
Words: 11,683
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/10588347
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/fyrefairee/pseuds/fyrefairee
Summary: The Three of them was always meant to stop mid story, to pick up The Dreamer series.Veronica, Logan, Lilly and the gang didn't like that however, and I had to finish their story in a more satisfactory way.So here it is, the rest of the story The Three of them.





	1. Law School : Final Year

It takes another three years for the rest of them to move home. In Veronica’s final year at law school, Weevil’s aubela gets sick, and he an Ella make the difficult decision to move back to Neptune to care for her. For Eli, it means leaving the shop behind, but his reputation as an artist means that getting a new chair at a Neptune shop will be easy enough. For Ella, however, it means leaving the job at the UN that she studied for. Despite that, it felt right to move back. 

 

As soon as Logan found out how sick Lettie was, he made sure that her care was paid for. “It may be morbid,” he told Keith “but she helped me live. Now I get to help her die. It feels right.” 

 

Logan flew back to Neptune with Ella and Eli, not wanting to intrude on their time with Lettie, but wanting to say goodbye to the woman who meant so much to him. 

 

Ella and Eli move back into his childhood home, and he’s surprised how quiet it is. When he was growing up, there were always eight or ten cousins running around. Some lived there, others were just passing through, being babysat by the older ones while their parents were off at work. Now, however, everyone is an adult. He’s the oldest of the cousins, and none of them have had any children yet. There are no new generation to run around, and even the youngest of his cousins has moved out. The house contains his aubela, his uncle Angel, himself and Ella. 

 

A month after them get home, Eli calls Logan. Seeing Weevil’s photo come up on his screen, Logan knows something bad has happened. It’s only 8am in New York, making it 5am in Neptune. Lettie passed away in her sleep. Although both men had been expecting it, it hits them hard, and they spend most of the phone call in silence, tears streaming down their faces. 

 

Lilly, overhearing the conversation, books herself and Logan on the next plane to Neptune. Veronica spends the day re-arranging her study groups, and arranging time away from school with her professors. Veronica follows them on the last flight of the evening, arriving at the airport bleary eyed and eternally grateful to see her father. 

 

Like so many of their gatherings, they hold the wake in the garden. Over the years, it has become a place of celebration, not grief. Weddings, Thanksgivings, Christmases, baptisms have all been held in the space. This is no different. Lettie was loved within her community, and she helped to raise many of the children from the neighbourhood. The church was packed for her service, and the wake is no different. Nearly 200 people show up, spilling onto the beach. Logan organises transport home for everyone, allowing people to toast her memory. Despite the quantities of alcohol flowing in he party, everyone is respectful and courteous. They know that the garden was as much Lettie’s legacy as Keith’s - she was instrumental in rounding up the people to begin it, vouching for Logan and Lilly despite the protests of her fellow ‘02ers.

 

Living within the gates of the complex, Dick, Mac, Meg and Nick all make use of the gardens, regularly meeting there. Dick has started to teach Nick to surf, and Meg and Mac both jog the shoreline. Logan took over the payments to maintain the garden, and it has flourished in their absence. Two days after the wake, he’s sitting by the pond with Dick, staring at the sunset of the sand dunes. 

 

“You’ll be back, eventually, won’t you?” Dick asked running sand through his fingers. “I know V’s got law school, and you guys have Simone, and I know this place was so awful… But I miss you man. I miss my brother. There are law firms and art galleries out here too. I’ll build you a restaurant. What’s keeping you there? You guys are the only ones left…”

 

Dick trails off, knowing it’s a question Logan can’t answer. 

 

“The Strauss’ place came up for sale yesterday. Well, no. It didn’t come up for sale. I’d approached most of the high end real estate agents last year, after Meg and Nick came back. I figure we own four of the 10 houses in the community. We might as well try to own all of them. So, I had a word to all of the top agents, letting them know that I wanted to buy more of the houses. The Strausses want to sell. They contacted an agent yesterday, and the agent contacted me last night. I made them an offer this morning. The businesses are going well. It’s not about the money. I have more than enough. We all do. It’s about living near my family. 

 

“Keith has been amazing since we had Annie. He was great with Charlie, too, but I dunno. There’s just been this extra thing since Annie came along. I never really had a male role model. And he girls have two sets of grandparents, cos of Mac… but he’s kinda like their grandfather too, you know? The house is too big, for one person at I guess. But I kinda want to offer him something… I dunno…”

 

Dick trails off again. Logan lets him sit in silence, knowing that he hasn’t finished his thought process. Logan never made the mistake of assuming that Dick was dumb. If they were 10 years younger, Dick would have spent his childhood packed full of Ritalin. As it was, he probably did still have symptoms of ADHD. Logan knew it was best to let Dick work through his thoughts before interrupting him, let him come to his own conclusions. Not to distract him. 

 

“I’m thinking of giving the Strauss place to Weevs and Ella. I know you bought Lettie’s place and gave it to them, I know it’s his home… but… he got out of that life. I’m not sure this one is any better, but, like… it feels right.”

 

Dick turned to look at Logan, worried that he had done the wrong thing. Instead, he saw the smile forming on Logan’s face.

 

“That sounds perfect, man. Angel still lives there. Lilly would kill me if we just let them live in the barrio. Caring for Lettie was one thing, but no way she’d let us forget it if he ended up back there.”

 

Satisfied, Dick turned back to the ocean. Logan, Lilly and V would be leaving in a few days. He was happy just to sit with his friend, happy that they were on the same page. Logistics and papers and legalities could be worked out later. For now, he was satisfied that he’d done the right thing. 

 

He often wondered what would have happened to him if Veronica hadn’t moved to town. He had almost no moral compass before he was sucked into her world, and she had taught him, sometimes forcefully what was right and just. He’d hated her some days for it, but knew that without her, he wouldn’t be where he is today. Who he was. He probably would have joined a frat, spent his time drinking and sleeping around, taking drugs until the inevitable downwards spiral and rich boy rehab session that was unlikely to stick. His life was so much richer for the lessons in right and wrong and just. 


	2. Law School Final Year Part Two

Life was subdued for Logan, Veronica, and Lilly when they returned home. Veronica throws herself into her studies during the day, and Logan and Lilly’s arms when she gets home. 

 

A month after they arrive back in New York, Lilly realises she is pregnant again. She’s three months along, past the first trimester already. Another surprise pregnancy. Veronica jokes that they were Lilly’s specialty. But Hailey was only 6 months old, and still breastfeeding. Which is why she hadn’t noticed any missed periods. The ob-gyn had told them it was fairly effective (although not foolproof) contraceptive. They were using protection, although Lilly hadn’t had the Mirena put back in. So, it wasn’t an impossible pregnancy, just very unexpected.

 

Still reeling from the shock of Lilly’s pregnancy so soon after Hailey, they’re even more surprised when their ob-gyn tells them they’re expecting twins. Although she’d only planned to take 6 months of maternity leave after Hailey was born, Lilly takes a leave of absence when she finds out that she is pregnant again. Carrying the twins is harder on her than Hailey was, and she is put on bed rest from the start of her sixth month of pregnancy. Veronica takes to studying in the living room while Lilly naps rather than locked away at the library. Logan can’t believe that Lilly can even fit the two growing forms within her body, she just seems so tiny. By the eight month, she seems like she’s more belly than she is Lilly. 

 

Veronica sat her final Law School exams in late June, and spent the next month buried under the books she needed for the Bar exam. Her exam was the last Tuesday and Wednesday in July. Lilly was due two days later, although the doctors had kept stressing that twins usually came early, and to be prepared. So around Veronica’s study, Logan and Lilly converted another one of the bedrooms into the twins room. Like their first pregnancy, they’d decided not to find out the sex of the twins until the arrived. Although they’d painted Hailey’s room, Lilly couldn’t face painting another one. Instead, they found vinyl wall art of trees and plants and flowers, and made the twins’ room into a forest of greens and yellows and blues. 

 

While they were prepping the bedroom, Lilly tells Logan she doesn’t want to go back to work after the twins are born. That while she loves her job, she loves introducing people to the amazing art and exhibitions of the Met, especially the school groups, she wants to be with her kids more. She was never working because of the money anyway, so no longer having her income isn’t going to make a difference to them, not really. Logan nods, agreeing with her. It makes sense. The twins are due one week after Hailey’s first birthday. Three children under the age of one seems like a very justifiable reason to stop working. Logan agrees, not needing the extra reasoning. He’s glad that she came up with it herself, rather than him suggesting it. He doesn’t want to hold her career back, and he would stay home if it was the right choice, but he’s happy for her to stay home with the family. After he and Lilly talk, the conversation with Dick on the beach sticks in Logan’s mind, churning around his head. Keith is the only living grandparent figure that any of his kids had. Their friends had all moved back west, and they were alone on the East coast. Neptune was no longer the hell hole it had been when he was a kid. When they all were kids. Keith had retired from the sheriff's department, but his successor, Leo, was just as good at tackling the gangs. The Fitzpatricks and the PCHers were no longer operating, and all the initiates that both Keith and Leo had put in place were working to keep them from returning. As Kane software grew under Mac’s guidance, Neptune was slowly gaining a middle class, balancing the town. Logan would love to move back near Keith, to be closer to all the friends that had become his family over the years. With Lilly’s decision to quit her job to become a stay at home mother, Veronica is the only thing keeping them in New York.

 

He’s not going to ask her to leave for them. It isn’t fair to her. She’s worked her ass off over both her undergrad degree and law school. Once she takes the Bar, she’ll be qualified to practice in New York State, not California. He can’t ask her to give it up. 

 

Logan, Lilly and Veronica approach the date of the Bar and Lilly’s due date with bated breath. They can’t help wondering if Lilly will make it to her due date, or if she will do into labour early. If she does, they put in place contingency plans to allow Veronica to finish herstudies and sit the exams without being disturbed by the newborns, and without feeling guilty that she isn’t helping with them. Their planning proves to be unnecessary, when Veronica’s exams come and go. Lilly goes into labour at 5am on the date predicted by her ob-gyn as her due date. The labour progresses quickly, and five hours later, they welcome their son and second daughter into the world. 

 

As a family, they decide that they want to honour both Lettie and Duncan, but also want to make sure that they are their own people. They settle on Quinn Duncan Mars Echolls Kane for their son, and Blake Lettie Mars Echolls Kane for their new daughter. In some ways, they knew that they were making life a bit difficult for their kids, giving them three middle names, but before Hailey was born, they’d all decided that they wanted all three to be recognised in the names of any children they had. They might not all be the biological parents, but they were all parents. They would get their birth mother’s surname, and the other two would be middle names. It was better than any awkward double or triple barreling that they could have done. 

 

It’s not a surprise to anyone that Veronica passes the bar with flying colours. She was offered a job as a Junior Partner before she even sat the exam, at Trumman-Mann and Associates before she’d even sat the exam, pending her passing the Bar. She had interned with them during the previous summer, and they’d told her to apply with she was due to graduate. That if she passed the Bar first go, there was a job waiting for someone with a mind as agile as hers. However, they couldn’t start her employment until she was officially qualified. 

 

The three month wait between sitting the Bar and getting her results were some of the best of Veronica’s life. She’d been interning for most of the first few months of Hailey’s life, so she didn’t get to experience the joys of newborns. But she wasn’t working, she wasn’t studying for the twins. Logan took six months paternity leave again, and the three of them spent the first three months together raising their children. When Veronica got her results, and started at Trumman-Mann and Associates, Lilly and Logan stayed at home with Hailey and the twins.

 

Veronica was surprised how much she liked looking after the twins, and how much she missed them when she started at Trumman-Mann. She’d never felt maternal, and even though she loved Hailey, she never felt the same maternal pull as she did after the twins. About a month after she started at Trumman-Mann, she and Logan were on their morning run, and she stopped to talk to him about it.Logan knew that she had been building up to something, and that running was often the place where she managed to articulate her emotional thoughts. She was fiercely intelligent, and he knew that he’d never win against her in an argument, but she also struggled to express her emotions. Not for the first time, running had provided her with the way in to her mind. 

 

“I never thought I wanted kids. Ever. When Hailey was born, I thought that was enough for me. That you and Lilly would breed, and I would help to raise them.” 

 

Logan smiled at the slightly callous way she talked about motherhood. It wasn’t the worst thing he’d heard her say before. The last time they’d explicitly talked about parenthood was before the fires, but even then Lilly had been adamant that she wanted kids, and Veronica had been adamant that she didn’t. Each time one of their friends had kids, Lilly had gushed over the baby, and Veronica had acted like she thought she should. He’d heard her talk about Mac and Dick breeding before, so the phrase wasn't startling to him. 

 

“I know,” he replied.

 

“But… Quinn and Blake are making me rethink it. Like, I’ve liked them. I haven’t been acting…” she faded off, tackling an incline on the trail. At the top she started talking again. “My plan was always a career, not a family. I mean, I’ve just done seven years of study for my career. I always thought that having children was a sacrifice I didn’t want to make. Even as a teenager. I know that I was with Duncan when we were younger, and so it’s not like I was alone or anything, but I just never thought I’d be in a relationship when I was in my twenties? I never imagined finding the love that my parents had. And I can’t imagine having a kid by myself. Even though I was a teenager, I saw how difficult it was for my dad being a single parent. Then everything happened and then we became LoVeLi. And now I don’t know. The sacrifice almost seems worth it.

 

“Not that I want to get pregnant tomorrow or anything. We have enough small people in the house. We don’t need another. And I actually want to spend a few years working.”

 

Veronica stops running and turns to Logan. 

 

“But. It’s something I’d think about now. With you and Lilly. 

 

“I never thought we’d last this long. I know you count our anniversary as that day that Lilly woke up, and that was nine years ago now. This relationship is so different to what I expected. Call it poly, or triad, or whatever other labels they heap upon us. Society,” Veronica waves her hands around, indicating the nebulous idea of the society around them. “Society can go fuck itself. I know what we have isn’t conventional, and that’s why I’m surprised we’ve lasted this long. Not because I thought we wouldn’t work. But because I thought society would fuck us up. But we’ve lasted this long. I didn’t even know this was an option when it all started. So I think society isn’t gonna screw us up. 

 

“And it’s making me think that maybe I’d like to me a mother. Like a proper, biological mother.”

 

She looks up at Logan. Most of this conversation has been directed at his chest, studying the logo on his t-shirt. 

 

“But, like, not any time soon. I want to work. I want to establish my career. Trumman-Mann isn’t an opportunity I’ll get again. They’ll set me up for the rest of my career if I can get through the first few years. The hours are gonna be insane, but we knew that.”

 

Smiling at him, she almost laughs. “But family night on Friday is still sacred.”

 

Leaning down, Logan kisses her.

 

“I know, love. Whatever you want. We’re gonna support your career, financially, emotionally, whatever. So long as we get Friday nights with you.”


	3. New York Lawyer

Veronica starts working at Trumman-Mann when the twins are three months old. Leaving them is hard, but she soon finds she loves the challenge of law. Not that she’s surprised by that. She picked Law as a profession for a reason. Soon, she is doing 50 and 60 hour weeks, either staying late at the office or working weekends. She prefers to have the weekends with her family, so quickly falls into a habit of arriving at work at 630 or 7 am, and working though until 6 or 7pm. Except Fridays when she leaves at 530 to be home for Friday dinner. Her coworkers assume that she is Jewish and going home for Shabbat. She doesn't bother to correct them. It’s easier that way. There are enough Jews in New York, both orthodox and non-orthodox, that it’s just understood that she goes home for Shabbat. 

 

For Logan and Lilly, they love parenthood. Even with three very young children, they know they’ve made the right decision to take long maternity and paternity leave, and for Lilly, to be a stay at home mother. Every day brings a new joy, and they excitedly tell Veronica every little detail when she gets home. The little triumphs of sitting up and steps and words. Of trips to the park. The minutiae of their days. Veronica shares it with them, loving the joy that drips from them when they talk. Dinner is often help with each of them holding a baby, and Logan begins to cook things that can be eaten one handed. 

 

When the twins are six months old, Logan goes back to work part time. His colleagues are happy to see him back, but he misses his kids. He continues to work the breakfast and brunch shifts, leaving for work even earlier than Veronica, and arriving home just after lunch time. If they are awake, he feeds the twins just before he leaves, and if they aren’t, Veronica does it when she leaves. 

 

For Lilly, life falls into a routine. She feels Logan, then Veronica get up and leave for work each morning, and goes back to sleep for another hour or so, depending on when the twins and Hailey wake up. Logan or Veronica taking a morning feed really helps in the morning, and she feels a wave of a love towards each of them when she rolls over for her extra hour of sleep. 

 

Her mornings are dictated by her kids, until Logan gets home. They all have lunch together, then they go for a walk to the local park. They might live in one of the biggest cities in the world, but she loves how many parks there. How much green there is.She can’t imagine living somewhere like LA where it’s all roads and apartments. Even Neptune could use more green space. Although, she wouldn’t have bundle the kids up quite so much in Neptune. Lilly hasn’t taken to the snow in the same way that Logan and Veronica have. She finds the cold an imposition. Sure, the coats are cute, but getting herself and the kids ready to go outside is a real commitment. Raising kids in Neptune would definitely have the advantage of no snow. She knows why they aren’t moving, but she wishes that she was closer to other mothers. They get home some time in the afternoon, and Logan starts dinner. They start the bedtime routine for the kids, and if it is a lucky day, Veronica is there for part of it. If not, they put the kids to bed and wait for her to come home before they eat dinner. Her life is so much simpler than she ever expected. Simpler than it would have been if the fire had never happened. A year after her first day of maternity leave, she officially resigns. She loves the routine of motherhood more than the job. She can’t imagine any job she wants to do more. 

 

She video chats with Mac regularly, and they swap motherhood anecdotes. Mac keeps her up to date with the goings on in Neptune. And her company. But mostly, she provides a solid female friendship in a way that neither of them ever expected. Mac is used to Lilly breastfeeding as she sits at the computer. Sometimes the chats are just having the computer on and connected while both of them potter through their days. Other days, they talk non stop until they are interrupted by one of their children. 

 

About a month after Logan returns to work, Mac tells her she has a secret. “A good one.”

 

Intrigued, Lilly focuses her attention on her friend

 

“I’m pregnant agin. Dick doesn’t know yet. The doctor only confirmed it this morning.”

 

Squealing with happiness, Lilly passes her congratulations to Mac. Dick is a good father, and she’s so happy that they are having another child. 

 

“When are you going to tell him?” she enquired. 

 

“This evening. Keith is looking after Charlie, and I’m gonna take a picnic to the garden. Another good memory to put into that place.

 

“He bought the seventh house in the estate last week. Wait, is it the seventh?” Mac frowns and counts out on her fingers. “One and two are the garden. Owned by you and Logan respectively. Then three is our place. Four is Meg and Nick. Five is Eli and Ella. Six is Wallace and Estrella. So yeah, the seventh house. It’s the closest to the garden. He has plans to turn it into this crazy boutique restaurant and wedding venue. Can you imagine? I’m so proud of him, but kinda shocked he’s the same guy we went to junior high with. Think about Dick in the eighth grade. Can you imagine that Dick doing what this Dick is doing? Anyway. He bought the house. He’s in the process of having in rezoned so it can actually be a restaurant. Which will happen, cos, well, we are the majority stake holders, since Wallace and Estrella moved in last year. He really wants Logan to come and run the restaurant.

 

“And yes, I know exactly why you guys aren’t moving back. But we miss you. Dick really misses Logan. You guys lost your family, so you were allowed to grieve. His family just left.There was no event to grieve. Logan is his brother. I mean, you guys are all his family. But logan especially.”

 

“We miss you too,” Lilly replies. “Logan and I have talked about it, but we can’t push V. She’ll get there, I think. She’s already admitted that she isn’t anti biological motherhood anymore.Which is big. But we just need to wait it out.”

 

Mac nods, and the conversation moves onto lighter subjects. When Logan gets home, Lilly tells him about Dick’s most recent purchase.

 

“Yeah,” he responds. “He told me. I put some money towards it. I’m a silent partner. He knows that we can’t move back til V’s ready. But he’s gonna keep hinting. He has plans to own the whole estate, between us. He’s getting there. I wouldn't be surprised if it only took another two years. I mean, there are only two houses left. He wants one for us three. And the last, well, we may as well have a matching set. Expansion to the restaurant? I dunno. 

 

“But V’s only been at Trumman-Mann for like four months. We need to give her a few years. We can wait that long. And in the meantime, we will continue to love these precious little things,” he said, picking up Hailey as she tottered over. She’d been walking for months now, but she still looked like she was going to fall over ever time she walked. 

 

The weather started to warm up, and suddenly it was summer again. They celebrated first and second birthdays. Keith came across for both of them, and spent a month with Lilly, doting on his grand children. When he left, she felt lonely again. Not that she was alone, just that she was lonely. She wanted the family he provided. But Veronica was doing so well at work. She could see how happy it was making Veronica, and she loved happy Veronica. So she didn’t bring it up. 

 

Veronica could see that Lilly was missing something in her life after her father left. A fortnight later, they were giving the twins a bath and she bought it up. With Logan, running was the way in. With Lilly, it was bath time.

 

“Lilly, what’s making you sad? Don’t lie and say you aren’t. I can’t see it.”

 

“I miss Dad. It was so nice having him here. I wish we were closer to family. I know you are doing so well at Trumman-Mann, and we are gonna stay as long as you want. We know how important your career is. But I miss family.”

 

Veronica nods. “I know Lils. I miss him too. But I’m not qualified in California. And I need more experience before I can be hired by another firm. I just don’t know enough yet. I wish...”

 

“I know,” Lilly interjected. “I’m not saying it to make you feel guilty. Or bad or whatever. We are here as long as you need. But… I’d like to move home some time. Enough time has passed. Neptune has changed. We’ve changed. We’ve all grown past the hurt of the past. But, for now, our family here is enough. I’m just gonna miss the rest of the family there, is all.”

 

Wrapping Quinn in a towel, Veronica leans over and hugs Lilly. “I love you,” she whispers in her ear. “You and Logan, and all the sacrifices you are making for me.”

 

Standing up, she picks up Quinn and Blake. “I’ll put them both down tonight. I’ve been missing it.”


	4. Meg and Nick

Nick and Meg spend the first two years of their marriage trying to get pregnant. They’d talked about children and families during their whirlwind courtship, and both of them knew that they wanted at least two kids. Maybe more. They talked timing, and both knew they wanted to be young parents. They waited until marriage to lose their virginities, and had discussed that they were both stable enough in their careers that they wouldn’t worry about waiting before they started trying. They wouldn’t be crazy about it, but they also wouldn’t use protection. When it happened, it would happen. 

 

At first, they had sex on a regular basis, after discovering the ways that their bodies worked together. They spend months exploring and experimenting. Some things worked, some things didn’t, and they discovered the joys of taking it less than seriously, and having a laugh if something didn’t work. Their sex life was happy and healthy and enjoyable for both of them.

 

But after two years, they hadn’t conceived. Meg started to get worried. She started tracking her periods and ‘fertile’ windows, and still nothing. They tried period sex, and still nothing. Two and a half years after they got married, they went to a fertility specialist. She was hoping that it was something easy to fix. 

 

She was nervous going to the office for the follow up appointment. Nick was sitting next to her, just as nervous. She gripped his hand, willing everything to be okay, terrified it wasn’t. He smiled at her, whispering reassuring sweet nothings to her. He was holding his own fears back. They’d talked about kids so much, and he knew how deeply she wanted to be a mother. With Mac and Lilly both having kids already, he knew that she felt like she was behind the game. 

 

As the doctor walked in with the file, his heart sunk. The look on the doctor’s face didn’t bode well for a natural conception. 

 

When the doctor started talking, Nick and Meg’s fears were confirmed. Without IVF, it was very unlikely that they would conceive naturally. Even with IVF, it was going to be difficult. Nick had a very low sperm count, Meg had eggs with super thick walls which were very difficult for Nick’s sperm to penetrate. In addition, she had undiagnosed polycystic ovarian syndrome(PCOS), which had affected her fertility.

 

The doctor talked them through the options with IVF. He also gave her a prescription for the pill. He explained that while it was counterintuitive to go onto the pill while they were trying to get pregnant, it was the best defense agains many of the negative side effects associated with PCOS, including increased risk of ovarian cancer. If they decided to go ahead with IVF treatments, she could stop taking the pill, but until then he strongly advised starting to take it. 

 

Meg took the prescription and they drove home in shock. Meg didn’t let go of Nick’s hand the entire drive, and for the first time in his life, he was glad that they had taken her car, and automatic. He could drive that one handed, but couldn't drive his stick shift one handed. He’d tried.

 

They got home, and walked silently into the house. They hadn’t told any of their friends about their concerns, and were glad that they hadn’t run into any of them as they got back. They weren’t ready to talk to them, or to pretend that everything was okay. 

 

The kitchen had always been Meg’s favourite room in the house. Other than having amazing appliances and space, it had a couch and fireplace. Strange, but the previous owners had been slightly eccentric. Nick pulled a bottle of wine out, and poured them each a glass as Meg sat down. Handing Meg her glass, he sat down, pulling her feet into his lap. He wanted to be close to her, touching, for this conversation, but also wanted to be able to look into her eyes. Placing his glass on the arm of the couch, he started massaging the balls of her feet. 

 

Both of them knew they needed to start the conversation, but neither of them knew how. Instead, they focussed on the connection Nick was creating. Meg sipped her wine as Nick continued to massage her feet.

 

Finishing her wine, she took a deep breath. 

 

“I don’t want to do IVF. I don’t want to go through that heartbreak. I don’t want to put my body through that. I don’t want to put our relationship through that.

 

“I want to adopt. I want kids, but I don’t believe that they have to be my blood to be my children. Look at Keith and Lilly and Logan. They’re his kids, even though they aren’t blood. I know you weren’t around when they were teenagers, but even before the fire, he love them both like his own.

 

“But… I also don’t want this decision to be all on me. I don’t want to stomp all over what you want. I just… yeah…” she trails off, looking away from him.

 

Nick leans across, lifting her chin so he could look into her eyes

 

“Nothing would make me happier than adopting with you. We’ll contact the agency tomorrow.”

 

Moving into his arms, they kiss deeply, settling comfortably together. 

 

The next day, they contacted an adoption agency, and set up an appointment for the following Thursday. They’d spent most of the previous night investigating the local adoption agencies. Meg had ruled out most of the religious ones. She knew intellectually that most religious organisations were fine, but living her formative years with her parent’s crazy religious beliefs had left a bad taste in her mouth when it came to religion, and what religious organisations did.

 

The agency they went with wasn’t affiliated with any religions. It also had a foster department. It was California based, would adopt to same sex couple (despite the laws in opposition to same sex adoption), and sought to place only American children. Meg called Veronica, and asked her to check up on the agency, but not tell the others. Veronica came back with a positive answer, and so they went ahead with their choice. 

 

Preparing for their meeting was strange. It was like a job interview, but for being a parent. When they put in their application, they had to include bank statements, and references, and documents about their house and so much more. They were nervous walking into the agency, unsure what to expect. Walking into the room behind their adoption specialist, Rosie, and sitting down, somehow her smiling face relaxed them. 

 

She asked them the questions they had expected. They talked about why they wanted to adopt, about their home and support networks, about their marriage, their house and jobs. They had expected all those questions. They she asked the one that they hadn’t.

 

“Are you prepared to do an emergency foster? These don’t regularly come up, and they child may be a day old, or seventeen. They may be one child, or they may be a family with multiple children that we are trying to keep together. They need to be housed immediately. The call may come at 3am. It might come at midday. Sometimes these turn into permanent placements, sometimes they are able to be relocated to a permanent placement or returned to their families. These are often the most difficult placements. Many of the children on emergency placements have serious medical conditions, or behavioural or mental difficulties. They usually are being relocated from a difficult home situation. For the older children, this means that they can be quite difficult and combative to begin with. We don’t offer this to everyone, but with your backgrounds, and with your financial situation, we would be comfortable giving you an emergency placement.”

 

Nick looked at Meg, and saw the look in her eyes. He knew that they were on the same page. 

 

“Of course we would be interested in an emergency placement,” he said. 

 

“Wonderful, I’m so happy to hear that,” Rosie said. “Pending reference checks, we are happy to move ahead with you two. I cannot give you a timeframe. Permanent placements usually take about a year. Sometimes less, sometimes more, but a year tends to be the average. Fostering is usually somewhere between three and six months. For emergency placements, I cannot give you a timeframe. It could be two days, it could be two years. There is nothing standard about these, so there is no way to give you even a rough timeframe. In the case of emergency placements, all I can say is that I hope we do not have to use you, but we are very grateful if we do.”

 

Nick an Meg left feeling more hopeful than that had in months. They knew that everything was going to take time, but they had put it into motion. Things were starting. If it took two years, at least they knew that they were moving forward towards their family. 

 

They talked for a long time that night, about the idea of family and their expectations now they had talked to Rosie. They planned to tell their friends that they had fertility issues and were planning to adopt at their monthly Saturday night group dinner in the garden. It seemed like the best time to announce their news.

 

At 450 on Friday, Meg got a call from Rosie to tell them they’d been approved for adoption, fostering or emergency placements. As they had been accepted for emergency fostering, they needed to ensure that they had beds and linen set up and ready for any children that might come, for any age. This meant a cot, as well as full sized bed. There were a list of requirements, which she would email across as soon as they finished the phone call.

 

Meg thanked her, and assured her that they would set everything up the very next day. They made an appointment for the following Saturday for Rosie to come to their house and check the set up was appropriate. 

 

Meg was as she hung up the phone. Even though she’d felt positive leaving the interview, she’d still had a weight hanging over her. What if they weren’t approved, what if, what if, what if. What if they weren’t approved, and Nick left because he wanted a family and she couldn’t give it to him? Her thoughts had been spiraling, and she was so relieved to have a confirmation that they were good enough. Even the day she’d spent letting her mind go down the what if rabbit hole felt like too long.

 

The next day, Meg and Nick dutifully purchased everything on the list, and had it express delivered that day. It felt good to be finally filling some of the rooms in the house. Meg loved Dick and Logan and Lilly for their generosity in giving them the house for a wedding present, but it had always felt too big. It was so much bigger than the place she’d grown up in. So much bigger than she and Nick needed by themselves. There was an entire wing they only set food in once a month when they cleaned and aired it out. But filling some of the rooms with bedroom furniture, cots and dressers and beds and blankets and towels and clothes and pjs for boys and girls in sizes from baby to adult (although the clothes weren’t on the list, they just knew that many of the emergency placement kids turned up with just the clothes on the backs and the rest of their possessions in a garbage bag, if they had extra possessions) made it feel more like a home, less like an extravagance.

 

The dinner went well, and while everyone was sad to hear about their fertility issues, they were happy to hear about their adoption plans. Every person at the table understood family to be more than blood, and understood the privileged position they were in. 

 

Meg and Nick had talked bout how they would manage their expectations, about how they would deal with the time until they had a child placed with them. They had set their expectations for a year. Although they were prepared for something faster, they weren’t expecting anything for a year. 

 

So, they were shocked when they received a call at 11pm he following Wednesday night. It was Rosie, and she had an emergency placement. 

 

“It’s three kids. They’re eight, five, and one. The parents were in a car accident this afternoon. Both were only children. No grandparents are alive. We can’t find a will to see if there were any friends listed for the event of their death. I can’t give you much more information at the moment. Can you take them as an emergency placement? We don’t know if this would be temporary or permanent. It might take a few months to figure it all out.”

 

For Meg, there was no question. “Of course. We are up. The beds are ready. Please bring them as soon as possible.”

 

Meg could hear the relief in Rosie’s voice as she thanked her and told her they’d all be there soon. “I know we haven’t finished vetting your place, but I can do a quick check when I come with the kids.”

 

An hour later, Rosie arrived with the three small children. Stepping out of the house towards the car, Nick couldn’t help but think that they all looked so much smaller than he expected. He stood by Meg, trying not to look too intimidating to the tired small children.

 

“This is Tobias,” Rosie said, gesturing at the oldest child. “And Luka,” handing the wrapped sleeping bundle to Meg, “and Tess.” 

 

Gently taking Tobias and Tess’ hands, Rosie led both children up the path.

 

“Tobias, this is Meg and Nick. They’ll be taking care of you tonight, and for a little while.”

 

Rosie turned to Meg and Nick. “These guys have had a long day. How about we take them straight to bed. Tobias and Tess would prefer to sleep in the same room. I don’t know if Luka sleeps through the night yet, but Tobias here says that he was sleeping in his parents room still, isn’t that right, Tobias?” 

 

Nodding, Tobias looked warily around. “It’s so big. Is this really where we will be sleeping?”

 

“Of course,” Nick answered. “There are bunk beds in one of the rooms. You can Tess can sleep in there. The lower bunk is even a big, double bed if you guys would like to share. Luka can sleep with us tonight. We’ll be just next door if you need anything. Would you like that Tess?” 

 

Tess wasn’t looking at Nick, instead focusing on Tobias. Seeing Tobias’ hands moving, realisation dawned on Meg. 

 

“Tess is deaf?” she asked.

 

Meg had expected the answer to come from Rosie, but instead Tobias answered. “Yes,” he said defensively. “She’s not dumb. She just can’t hear you.”

 

Crouching down to their level, Meg looked into Tobias’ eyes. “I know, sweetie,” she replied. “My favourite staff member at school was our lunch lady. She was deaf too. She told the funniest jokes. I know a little bit of sign language, but I’ve forgotten most of it since I finished school.”

 

Carefully, Meg signed to Tess. _Hello t-e-s-s, my name is m-e-g._

 

“I don’t know much more, Tobias. You might have to help me for a while until I remember what I forgot, and learn what I didn’t know. Is that okay?”

 

Tobias gave a small nod, then a big yawn.

 

Standing up, Meg motioned to the room behind her. “This is our room.” Then she pointed at the door in front of her. “And this is your room. We know this house is very big, and very unfamiliar. We will leave a night light on in the hallway, and in our bedroom. If you need anything, just come and get us.”

 

The three adults and three children walked into the room in front of them. Carefully, Meg passed the sleeping baby to Nick. She could see Rosie checking the room, ticking boxes on her mental check list.

 

“This is the bedroom we have for you guys. There is a bathroom” _bathroom_ “through that door,” Meg said, pointing to the door. “There are tooth brushes waiting for you guys in there. And a step stool if the basin is too high.”

 

Opening a drawer, she pulled out a set of pajamas for each child. Handing them to Tess and Tobias, she told them “you don’t have to wear these if you don’t want. But they are brand new, specially for you guys. How about you brush your teeth and get changed if you want, then we will tuck you into bed. Sound okay?” 

 

Tobias nodded, and took Tess’ hand, leading her into the bathroom. A few minutes later, the two children emerged, dressed in their new pajamas. Meg smiled, and her heart swelled at the trust that these two little children had already placed in them. 

 

Climbing into the lower bunk, the siblings snuggled against each other. Meg pulled the blankets up, and tucked them around the children the same way she remembered her sisters liking when they were kids. 

 

“Good night” _good night_ , she said before standing up and switching off the light.

 

Stepping into the hall, Rosie followed her into the master bedroom where Nick had placed the still sleeping Luka in a crib. Meg could see her ticking off her checklist again. With a nod from Rosie, all three adults exited the room, and walked far enough down the hall that they wouldn’t disturb the children.

 

“Thank you for taking them in such short notice. Everything looks in order and set up for them, but we will be coming for a quick follow up on Saturday.

 

“We will try to locate next of kin over the next few days, but as I said on the phone, it may take months before we can locate a will, if they had one. It’s just as possible that there was no will. We also have to find out if there are any family member that come out of the woodwork, or friends. So far, no one has come forward. If someone with ties to the family and a genuine desire to raise these kids comes forward, then we will place them back with that person. However, if no one comes forward, or if they are not capable of raising these children, it may turn into a permanent placement.

 

“I’m glad that one of you has a little bit of ASL. It was always going to be the hardest part of this placement. We would appreciate it if you could learn more. There are several good classes in the city. I’ll email you a list in the morning.

 

“Tobias and Tess are both at school. They attend Neptune elementary, down on Baker St. We will contact the school in the morning to advise them of the situation, and get you listed as guardians. They may have more information about family or friends. In the mean time, we will arrange for them to have the next week and a half off school. In traumatic situations like this, with sudden death of the parents, we recommend that the children see a specialist child psychologist. There are subsidies available to you as foster carers to cover these visits. I will send you the details in the morning. I would suggest that you make an appointment as soon as possible. The children have been told what happened - we had an ASL translator with us at the office - but it might not have sunk in yet. 

 

“Again, thank you for taking them at such short notice. I will send you all the information in the morning, and will be back on Saturday. I’ll see myself out.” She walked down the stairs, and they heard the front door close quietly behind her.

 

Turning to each other, they walked softly back to their room. Turning, Meg looked into the bedroom with Tobias and Tess. Both were sleeping, holding the other tightly.

 

“Children, Nick. We have children in the house,” she whispered as they walked into their own bedroom for their first night as parents.


	5. Tobias, Tess, and Luka

The next day, both Meg and Nick eagerly and apprehensively awaited all the information that Rosie had promised to send them. True to her word, at 9:08 am it was sitting in their inbox. Luka had slept through the night, waking at 6am with a hearty cry. He looked confused to see Meg picking him up, but was happy to settle against her chest. Meg and Nick had both called into work to take the rest of the week off, so Meg got back into bed with Luka, sitting up and holding the small child, talking to him, loving him. She was amazed at the depth of love she felt, even after knowing the children for less than 12 hours. About an hour later, they heard the older children stir. Nick gave them a few minutes to wakeup, then got up and stuck his head in the door. 

 

“Good Morning guys! Anyone interested in breakfast?” Both children looked from the dog, them up at him. Tobias signed to Tess, and they both nodded. Meg joined them as the all walked downstairs to the kitchen. 

 

Helping the older two onto the bar stools placed at their kitchen island, Nick looked across at Meg for guidance. With her background in social work, he assumed she would have a better idea of how to navigate these new members of their family, even if they were only there for a short time. Meg was feeling just as lost, but knew that food was a good, safe place to start. 

 

“So, is there anything you guys usually have for breakfast?” _breakfast?_ she asked the two children sitting in front of her. “Do you want cereal or pancakes or eggs… or, I dunno, toast?” 

 

She watched Tobias sign to his sister and wished she remembered more ASL. It must be so terrifying for Tess not being able to communicate. Not being able to tell them what she wanted directly, having to go through her brother. 

 

“We usually have cereal. Mom never had time to cook anything for us. And Dad never cooked.” He looked back at Tess, and Meg could see that he wanted to ask for something, but was feeling insecure. She waited a few beats for him to speak again, but when he didn’t, she decided to offer her thoughts.

 

“Well, why don’t we have a special breakfast today. You guys had a really hard day yesterday. But we have time. Today is all about you. Do you want pancakes? Or eggs? Or Nick makes this really awesome breakfast potato thing with bacon and bell peppers. It’s one of my favourites.”

 

Meg again waits for Tobias to translate for Tess. She sees the exchange they have, and finally, hesitantly, he asks if they can have pancakes. Meg smiles and nods. “Of course, sweetie. Do you want bacon as well?” Meg is glad to see Tobias nod. 

 

Turning to the pantry, she grabs everything she’ll need to make the pancakes, including the dutch mini pancake maker. Setting it on the bench, she tells Tobias “I always love these little pancakes, they’re so much fun!” 

 

Nick gets the children a glass of orange juice each, surreptitiously watering the juice down so it isn’t so packed with sugar. Tess and Tobias watch as Meg cooks. She can see the uncertainty that is in the older two’s eyes, and hopes that over time it will pass. The children eat, with Luka perched on Nick’s lap and the older two at the bar stools. Tess and Tobias eat more than she expected, and she wonders when they last ate. After breakfast, they all head upstairs, and she gets them dressed for the day. She asks if they want to wear the clothes they bought with them, or the things she had waiting for just in case. Theyboth decide to wear their own clothes. 

 

Knowing how important it is for them to feel safe, and like this is their own space, Meg helps each of them to unpack their bag into a dresser. She takes out all the just in case clothing that is the wrong size for them, storing it in a linen closet down the hallway. She wonders if they had more clothing at home, or if this was everything they owned. 

 

“You guys have the day off school today. We need to get a high chair for Mr Luka,” she says, gesturing at the baby who is happily crawling about the floor, investigating the new space, and pulling himself up on the bed to an tottering standing position. “And we need to get car seats for you guys so that you can come in the car with us. So Nick is going to go to the store, and I’m going to wait here with you guys. We can go downstairs and watch TV, or we are really close to thebeach, and we can walk down there. It’s up to you guys.”

 

After a brief conversation, Tobias tell her that they want to watch TV. 

 

“Awesome choice, guys!” Meg isn’t sure if her pep is helping them, but can’t seem to turn it off. They walk back downstairs, to the TV room.

 

“Your house is so big!” Tobias comments. Meg doesn’t think he meant to talk out loud, but is glad that he did.

 

“It is. We’ve always felt so lonely here, just the two of us. We are so happy that you guys could come and stay with us, and make the house less empty.” Meg can see that Tobias isn’t convinced, but knows that everything is still very new for him. 

 

Settling into the couch in the TV room, Meg is glad she left her laptop in there the previous evening. She turns on the TV, finding a children’s channel. She turns on the closed captions for Tess, although she suspects that the girl is a little young to be reading them just yet. She watches the three children, Tobias translating for Tess, and Luka exploring this new room. 

 

Satisfied that she isn’t ignoring them, she flips open her lap top. The email from Rosie is waiting, and she reads though it quickly before opening up the attachments. The first is the information about ASL classes. After Luka woke up, and while they were waiting for Tobias and Tess to wake up, Nick and Meg had talked about how they would manage both of them going to classes. They decided that it would be best for them to attend different classes, so there could always be one of them with the children. Meg checks the timetable for all the schools, and is relieved to there is a beginners class starting the next week. She quickly enrolls both of them, From Monday, Meg will be attending classes on Monday, Wednesday and Friday nights, while Nick’s classes are Tuesday and Thursday nights, and Saturday morning.

 

Meg sees that the older kids are both enrolled in a school that isn’t in their feeder area. Although Neptune isn’t huge, it is big enough to have eight large primary schools. Meg and Nick’s house is in the feeder for the Ocean View Elementary (yep, the 09er district school has a fancy name). Rosie’s recommendation is that the kids stay enrolled and attending Neptune Elementary, to minimise the disruptions to their lives. In addition, Rosie explains that Neptune Elementary is the preferred school for deaf kids in Neptune. They have three ASL teachers on staff, and the kids take a combination of specialist and integrated classes. All up, there are about 30 deaf kids at Neptune Elementary, across the six years. Ocean View Elementary doesn’t have the same staffing set up, and wouldn't be able to cater for Tess. Neptune elementary is also part of a second language pilot program, where all kids take two compulsory second language classes - Spanish, and ASL - throughout their entire time at elementary school. There are about 12 schools across the country participating in the pilot program, and the family moved to Neptune so that Tobias and Tess could be part of it. Tobias was in the first kindergarten class to participate in the trial, and funding has been secured and guaranteed until his senior year at all participating schools. Unlike other programs that pay funding each year, the twelve schools have been allocated the full funding amounts, in trust accounts to be accessed each year. Neptune Middle School and Neptune High will be continuing the program, and accessing the funding from the Neptune Elementary trust when the cohort starts to attend.

 

Rosie has contacted the school, and excused them from classes for the rest of this week, and all of next week. Rosie suggests that they treat the next week as school holidays, and try to establish a routine for the children. She advises telling friends and family that they have taken the children in, but advises against introducing them to too many people too soon and overwhelming them. 

 

Rosie has also made an appointment for Tess and Tobias at a child psychologist for the next day. She explains that there is only one qualified psychologist in Neptune who also speaks ASL, and appointments are very hard to make without a referral. Meg notes the time and address in her calendar.

 

Rosie also tells them that the school wasn’t able to provide any additional information about next of kin or emergency contacts. Meg knows it’s still so early, but allows herself to feel slightly hopeful about what this could mean for their family. That they could become a family.

 

Scanning the rest of the email, Meg decided that none of it is very important. She closed her laptop, and retuned her attention to the children in front of her.

 

They sit in silence, watching TV for another hour before Nick gets home. He’s gotten everything on his list.

 

While he was out, he’d called all of their friends to tell them the news. To let them know that they’d be a bit incommunicado for the next few weeks as the children settled. Everyone was thrilled for them, and startled at how fast it had all happened. 

 

Lastly, he’d gone around to Keith’s. When they got the call from Rosie, they’d asked Keith to come and look after Bear for the night. It seemed right to ask Keith rather than any of their friends in the estate. On his way home from the shops, he’d collected Bear. Now they just needed to introduce Bear to the children.

 

“Hey guys,” he says, coming and sitting down on the couch with Meg. “I have something to show you in the kitchen. Have you guys had a pet before?” Tobias shook his head, and Nick continued. “Well, we have a dog. A friend of ours was looking after him last night, but he’s home now. He’s very friendly, and very licky. He’s waiting to meet you guys. Do you want to?”

 

Meg saw the excitement in Tobias’s eyes, and smiled as she saw it mirrored in Tess’ eyes as she was told. Looking back at Nick, he nodded. “What’s the dog’s name?”

 

“Bear.” 

 

Picking up Luka, the headed into the kitchen. Bear heard them coming, and started doing his excited bouncing dance. True to form, Bear licked the face of both children. Meg looked at Nick as the children hugged Bear.

 

“Okay, it’s almost lunch time guys. Who wants a sandwich?” _lunch. sandwich?_ Meg asked. Seeing both children nod, she smiled. “Okay, wash your hands first.”

 

Tobias and Tess ran upstairs, and Bear followed them up. Nick updated Meg on the phone calls he’d made, and Meg told Nick about the email. 

 

As the children arrived back downstairs, Nick pulled out the various sandwich fillings they had in the house. 

 

After lunch, they take Bear for a walk along the beach. The children and dog splash happily in the shallow waves at the shores edge, ending up sandy and salty and damp and happy. 

 

When they return home, they put Luca down for a nap, and give the older children a bath. It’s simple and domestic, and Meg feels her heart swelling. It feels right.

 

Both Nick and Meg take a week off work to help the children settle in. They worry that it’s not enough time, but over the week they find that life slowly settles into a routine. Nick and Meg start their ASL classes, and slowly start to be able to say very simple things to Tess. They take the children to the psychologist. They walk on the beach, and eat meals together. Their friends give them space to bond as a family, waving if they see them pass on the street, but otherwise respecting their need not to overwhelm the children with too many people too soon. 

 

Nick and Meg talk about their jobs, and how they will care for a baby. The find out that both of them are entitled to both adoption parental leave, and that their workplaces are happy to arrange flexible working hours and conditions. They decide that Meg will take two months of adoption parental leave, and Nick will adopt some of the flexible work arrangements, and work from home one day a week. When Meg returns to work she’ll take on a part time role three days a week, Nick will work from home the days she is at work. 

 

The day before the kids are due to go back to school, their teachers and the school principal come round to the house to have a discussion with Nick and Meg. Mac has come around with Hailey, and she watches the four children in the TV room while the adults talk in the kitchen. Meg is impressed with the care that the teachers are showing. They’ve all given up time on their Sundays to come and talk to them. She can’t imagine any of her teachers from high school doing that, and can barely remember her elementary school teachers.

 

Like their ASL class teachers, Tess’s class teacher, Miss Murray reiterates that it’s best to wait for the children to give them a sign name. If they were teachers, one of the other teachers would most likely give them a name to use with their class, but as foster parents, it was best to follow the children, to follow Tess’ lead. Just as they didn’t impose ‘Mom’ and ‘Dad’ on Tobias, they shouldn’t impose on Tess. Using their first initials ‘M’ and ‘N’ were best for now. Miss Murray is happy to hear that both of them are taking ASL classes. 

 

“Their parents were very involved in their lives. We never saw any other family members, but they were both at every single school event. They would drop the kids off in the morning and pick them up in the evening. They clearly loved their kids. Tobias and Tess were always dressed really well. Their parents were always dressed neatly and cleanly, but their clothes were obviously more worn. All their money went to their kids. We were all so sad to hear that they had passed.”

 

The principal, Mr Garcia took over from there. “All four of us will be looking out for Tess and Tobias. Ms Martinez will let you know if she notices anything concerning about Tobias’ behaviour or performance in class, while Miss Murray and Mrs Goldfinch will watch out for Tess. They’ve had these kids in their class for the last year, and are probably best placed to let you know if there are any major flags. Outside of what we expect from two young kids who have lost their parents. We are glad to see that you both seem dedicated to being involved in the life of the school. Even Tobias is now considered ‘out of district’ we will keep him with us at Neptune Elementary.”

 

They talk about the values of the school, and the upcoming events, pickup and drop off times and lunches. “Tess and Tobias were both on the free lunch program. Due to the changes in their circumstances, they will no longer be eligible for that program. You can opt to send them to school with packed lunches. About a third of our students bring lunch from home. Or you can elect to pay for meals at school. For continuity for them, we would advise that you pay for the meal program, at least for a few months. It’s not expensive - we don’t run it to make a profit - but we do strive to ensure that we are providing all the students with decent food.”

 

Meg nodded. She was glad that these educators were so supportive, not just of Tobias and Tess, but also of them. 

 

The first day at school was scary for Meg and Nick. Scary to leave them there. Scary wondering how they were coping with the return to school talking to their classmates about what had happened.When they picked them up, however, they seemed happy. 

 

About a two weeks after they go back to school, Tess gives Bear a sign name. It was fairly simple, the sign for bear then the baby-sign for dog. Literally, bear-dog. For Meg and Nick though, it was the first real indication that Tess was beginning to feel comfortable in the house. The psychologist had told them that both children were adapting well to the new environment, and dealing with their parents’ sudden death as well as could be expected. There were no red flags from her point of view. Little things like naming the dog, however, were clear indications that they were adapting, and comfortable with the new situation. 

 

Slowly, life begins to be ‘normal’ for them. School, work, weekends, it all starts to fall into a calm rhythm. Careful not to overwhelm Tobias and Tess, they introduce their friends slowly. Eli and Ella are the first. The heavily tattooed man could be scary looking, but also has the most experience with children of anyone they knew. His childhood home was always filled with cousins, and he was often responsible for looking after them. But more importantly, Ella had been attending ASL classes with Meg and Nick. With her affinity for language, she’d picked it up quicker than either of them, and was able to have conversations with Tess unaided. 

 

Next were Mac and Dick, then Keith, and lastly Wallace and Estrella. The people who were family. 

 

Bit by bit, the year moved on. Christmas came and went, and they celebrated at the garden. Logan, Lilly and Veronica were able to come home with their kids. Luka starts hitting milestones, talking and walking, climbing up everything in sight and ‘reading’ books to himself. Tess opens up the more that Meg and Nick learn ASL, and they realise what an outgoing bubbly child she truly is. Rosie was in regular contact, keeping them up to date with outcome of every search they’d done. The school hadn’t had any extra information on family. Both Tobias and Tess had no memory of any uncles and aunts. Or really any other adults coming around. Searches or birth, marriage and death registers hadn’t found any other family. They hadn’t moved the kids, and five months later, no one had come out of the woodworks. No one had turned up. Rosie let them know that it wasn’t guaranteed, but it was looking more likely that this emergency placement and foster situation might turn out to be more permanent. They still had a few searches and other bits of due diligence to do, but usually something turned up by this stage. 

 

Veronica, curiosity piqued by the lack of family or anything that could be found about them. She used some of her law school contacts, and her own investigative skills. Logan had once described her as a bloodhound. When she caught an idea or scent, she pursued it singlemindedly until it was resolved. No matter what the outcome. If a bridge needed to be burned, or a ship sunk, she would do it to get to the bottom of something. It made her a great lawyer, and had she followed her dad into policing, she would have made an excellent detective. 

 

Her search efforts are hampered by the hours she is doing at the office, and her desire to spend time with her family. She puts the search two months later, when they receive an excited phone call from Meg and Nick telling them they get to adopt the three children. 

 

The adoption process is slow, and it takes another three months until they are sitting in court, filing the paperwork. Becoming the official legal guardians, parents of the three children they met in the middle of the night eleven months earlier. 


End file.
